Too many childhood memories associated with makahiya. If you can’t recognize it, makahiya is the small fern-like plant at the foregound of the photo. It’s the plant whose leaves curl and fold up when touched. My brother and I used to entertain ourselves by poking makahiya with dry twigs wherever and whenever we found it — in U.P., in Tagaytay, in Laguna, in Cavite, and even in our own backyard. It was my mother who introduced us to the plant and I, in turn, introduced my daughters to it.

Today, when we neglect our home garden for weeks, makahiya grows among the grass and it still fascinates me. I guess I’m not the only one. Government scientists think that the makahiya may hold the cure to malaria.